1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to the field of pet supplies and, more particularly, to implements for entertaining pets.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Many people enjoy watching their pets play, and therefore create toys or other implements to encourage them to do so. Also, when pets are left alone, i.e., without human company, they can become bored and/or agitated. Therefore, when left alone for long periods of time, pets can become mischievous and damage property in the area in which they are confined. For example, if a cat is left alone in a person's home, the cat may urinate or defecate in an improper place, or may claw or scratch furniture, drapes, etc., out of boredom and/or spite for being left alone. In addition, even if a particular pet does not engage in such deviant behavior, often the pet's owner will feel guilty each time he or she leaves the pet alone. For these reasons, many pet owners find it desirable to provide toys or other implements to keep their pets entertained and/or distracted for as long as possible when left alone.
It is known that cats can be kept amused by objects that swing through the air. This may be true, for example, because such objects resemble flying creatures (e.g., birds, bats, insects, etc.), and the cats think or pretend that they are playing with or attacking such creatures. For this purpose, several prior art "cat toy" devices employ elongated, elastic beams having objects (which are intended to entice cats) dangled from their distal ends by pieces of string or chain. Some of these devices use beams having proximal ends that are adapted to be hand-held by cat owners so that the owners can dangle and selectively move the objects in front of their cats to keep them entertained. Other such prior art devices are adapted to be secured to the tops of doors or doorways using snap-on clips. Necessarily, the devices mounted on the tops of doors employ relatively long (e.g., six foot) strings to dangle the objects so that they can be reached by cats on the ground. It is known to use elastic strings for the devices mounted to the tops of doorways so as to increase the dynamic action of the dangled object.
While these door-mounted cat toys can be manipulated by cats without requiring any intervention by the cats' owners, thereby permitting the devices to keep cats entertained while their owners are away, Applicants have recognized that it is not always desirable to mount these types of pet toys only on doors. Generally, doors are located only where entry to or exit from a residence, room, closet, or the like, is required. Pet owners may find it annoying to have to negotiate around dangling strings and objects each time they use doors to which such devices are attached. Additionally, pet owners may simply want to install such devices at places other than where doors are located. For example, an owner may enjoy watching his or her pet play with such a toy, and a door may not be located at a place that is convenient or comfortable for the owner to do so.
Additionally, Applicants have recognized that, although these types of door-mounted cat toys can be quite effective in keeping cats entertained for short periods of time, a cat may tend to lose interest in such a toy after an extended period of use because the dangling object always returns to the same position when it stops moving. That is, with such a door-mounted cat toy, when a cat swats the dangling object with a paw or otherwise causes the object to move through the air, the elasticity of the beam permits the beam to flex, and the beam oscillates back and forth before finally coming to rest in its initial position. This oscillating of the beam can cause the object to move about rapidly, thereby enticing the cat to hit it again. However, because the beams of such devices always return to the same position after having been caused to flex, the objects dangled therefrom also always return to the same position in front of the door. Applicants have recognized that, for this reason, cats eventually tend to lose interest in playing with the dangling objects. Applicants hypothesize that this is true because the dangled objects of such devices do not mimic the behavior of real creatures insofar as real creatures would not tend to return to the same location each time they stop moving. Rather, a real creature is more likely to come to rest at a different location each time it stops moving.
What is needed, therefore, is an improved pet toy.